December 18, 2016 (Rossland, BC) – It was another chilly day in Rossland, B.C. with the temperature around -15 deg. C. as the Haywood NorAm, Buff skate sprints took place at Black Jack ski club.

In the morning qualifiers Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Fondeurs Laurentides and U.S. sprint star Andy Newell of Stratton Mtn. set the performance standard. Newell, one of the top World Cup sprinters, was ahead by over 5 seconds to Simon Lapointe of Skinouk.

In the heats, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt and Erika Flowers battled it out in the semis with Olivia prevailing.  In the final, the tables were turned as Flowers of Stratton Mtn. beat Bouffard-Nesbitt in a close race by 1/2 a second.  There was a fair gap to 3rd, where Katherine Stewart-Jones of Nakkertok edged Alaska’s Chelsea Holmes for 3rd.

Rocky Mountain-Racers, Maya Macissac-Jones was 5th, the 3rd Canadian, showing she is recovering from a foot injury that interrupted her dryland season. Annika Richardson a junior from Hollyburn, skiing in the senior class was 6th.

In the Junior Women’s class, minus a couple of the top juniors including Richardson and Hannah Mehain of Sovereign Lake, it was Bend, Oregon’s Maya Seckinger who claimed the win, by a big margin over Laurence Dumais of Fondeurs. Ella Hall of Methow Valley, USA was 3rd, with the 2nd and 3rd Canadians being Whitehorse’s Hannah Deuling and Amanda Thompson.

The men’s semis saw some great competition as both top 3’s were separated by less than a second. In semi 1, Andy Newell prevailed over home club skier Julien Locke and Evan Palmer-Charette of Lappe.  In semi 2, Simon Lapointe of Skinouk out-lunged Angus Foster of Big Thunder and Russell Kennedy of Canmore.

The final looked to be a close contest, but the veteran W Cup skier Andy Newell came through with a 1 second win over Julien Locke and Evan Palmer-Charette, who were separated by 5, 100ths of a second. The 3rd Canadian was Canmore’s Russel Kennedy.

Reed Godfrey of Canmore dominated away with the Junior Men’s race, but there was less than a second between Telemark’s Gareth Williams, Big Thunder’s Fergus Foster and 4th place Remi Drolet of Black Jack.

Sunday’s final day of the Haywood NorAm features a pursuit start, classic race, that will determine the mini-tour champion.

On the women’s side Chelsea Holmes has a large 1.37 lead over Erika Flowers and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt is another 43 seconds back. It could be an interesting race for the top Canadian positions as Bouffard-Nesbitt is only 9 seconds ahead of Katherine Stewart-Jones and Annika Richardson.

For the men, Evan Palmer-Charette has a comfortable 40-second lead over Russell Kennedy, with Andy Newell (USA) almost another 30 seconds back.

On the line is a trip to the World Cup for the top male and female Canadian from these past two weekends, so competition should be fierce.

Qualifying Results
Heat Results
Final Results
Overall mini-tour results